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William McCormick Blair (May 2, 1884 – March 29, 1982), was an American financier. ==Life== William McCormick Blair was born May 2, 1884 in Chicago. His father, Edward Tyler Blair, was the son of William Blair,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Blair_v._Commissioner_of_Internal_Revenue/Opinion_of_the_Court )〕 who founded the first wholesale hardware house in Chicago. Edward was a Yale graduate in 1879, who wrote several books including a history of the Chicago Club, and spent his life working in his father's firm. He was very wealthy, and employed four Swedish servants to manage the house while his children were growing up. William McCormick Blair's mother, Anna Reubenia "Ruby" McCormick (1860–1917), was the daughter of the agricultural machinery manufacturer William Sanderson McCormick (1815–1865) and a member of the illustrious McCormick family. Her grandfather was Robert McCormick (1780–1846), who invented a mechanical reaper. William graduated from Groton School in 1903, and received a BA from Yale in 1907.〔 At Yale, he was on the rowing crew and a member of the Skull and Bones society. He later received honorary degrees from Northwestern University in 1964〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher= Northwestern University )〕 and Lake Forest College. Upon graduation he entered the Northern Trust Company of Chicago. Shortly after, he entered the bond brokerage firm, David Reid & Company. In 1909 he moved to Lee, Higginson and rose through the ranks, becoming managing partner of its Chicago office. When it looked as if America would enter World War I in 1917, Blair was involved with the Four-Minute Men of Chicago, giving speeches during film intermissions. He was also active in the sale of War Bonds. When the Four-Minute Men were absorbed by the Committee on Public Information, he went to Washington, DC to be its director. Woodrow Wilson sent him a letter of thanks. As the war came to a close he enlisted in the Army and trained in a New York base. After the war, he continued with Lee, Higginson, but due the underwriting of Swedish magnate Ivar Kreuger the firm went bankrupt. In 1934, he was associated with Francis A. Bonner, who was also at Lee, Higginson. Together the two were organising a financial company of their own. Blair was left with no money after the collapse of Lee, Higginson, but he managed to obtain $50,000 from Joseph and Edward Ryerson, John and Douglas Stuart of Quaker Oats and Roger Shepherd. Their firm was opened on January 8, 1935 as Blair, Bonner & Company with an office in the Marshal Field Building at 135 South LaSalle Street in Chicago.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work= official web site )〕 The firm specialized in financing homes in the midwestern United States. In its early days, it assisted the growth of the Household Finance Corporation, Continental Casualty and Continental Assurance. In 1941, Bonner left the company, and it was renamed William Blair & Company. The firm was managed by five partners: William Blair, Wallace Flower, Donald Miehls, Lee Ostrander and Daniel Ritter. Blair married Helen Hadduck Bowen (1890–1972), daughter of banker Joseph Tilton Bowen and Louise DeKoven Bowen (1859–1953). In 1912 her mother endowed the summer camp for poor children of Hull House known as the Bowen Country Club.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work= Bowen Country Club official web site )〕 In 1946, Blair's sons, William McCormick Blair, Jr., Edward McCormick Blair (born 1915) and Bowen Blair (born 1918) joined the firm. Blair, Sr. stepped down as managing partner in 1961, and handed the reins over to son Edward. Bowen Blair died on September 11, 2009. Edward retired in 1977 and died December 22, 2010. Blair was a director of the Continental Casualty Co., the Continental Assurance Co. and the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co. He was a Life Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, a University of Chicago Life Trustee, Trustee of the Field Museum of Natural History, Trustee of Groton School, and Trustee of the Yale Alumni Board. Blair was also on the Board of Trustees at The Scripps Research Institute. He remained a senior partner of William Blair & Company until his death. The firm stayed relatively small, and still had offices in the same building on LaSalle street. He died March 29, 1982 at his home in Chicago. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William M. Blair」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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